Motorola Trying To Block Competitors From Hiring Workers It Laid Off
from the insult-to-injury dept
We already think that noncompete agreements don't make sense for companies, but Motorola may be taking the concept to a new level. Rather than trying to stop employees from leaving Motorola to go to a competitor, it's now trying to stop employees it already laid off from going to work for RIM. Motorola had already sued RIM earlier this year for trying to entice employees to jump ship, and this followed another suit by Motorola against Apple for hiring away an exec. Maybe rather than trying to prevent employees from going elsewhere, Motorola might want to focus on improving its own offerings and its own working conditions so that this isn't even a problem? But if it's laying people off, it seems rather ridiculous to then try to stop them from joining another company.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: hiring, laid off, noncompetes
Companies: motorola, rim
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Pricks
It's grossly unfair that's what and should be illegal.
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Buyout?
In the '90s I got 42 weeks of pay as a buyout for leaving Apple. The restriction, don't work for a competitor. Six years later I left Motorola, they were giving very good packages in 2001 also - same limitations.
Flack
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Pay Them
I would also take a layoff to be an adverse action that should "void" any contract, but then I am not a lawyer.
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Do Not Worry
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Re: Do Not Worry
In California that's true. Elsewhere it's not true at all. Non-competes do, quite often, stand up in court. But this isn't about non-competes specifically, but about a specific agreement between both companies not to solicit employees.
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non-compete
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Should be illegal
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So what's the point? Follow your gut - keep the people you need and do not pay non-compete settelements for the people that you don't want. Better to let them ruin your competitors from the inside.
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That's silly - it's bad enough they can the person.
Funny though - how Motorola claims they need to cut back on workers for their company's sake - but I'm sure they have the cash to sue ex-employees if necessary.
Should make one think twice about investing in companies with that logic.
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Easy Solution To THAT Problem
I went across town and got another job from the fellas there, and the boss treated me great. He gave me use of a long black limo complete with a driver and a color tv and a cell phone. He gave me a nice looking tailored suit and a snappy looking leather briefcase with several custom made "pieces" inside, with foam rubber cushions encasing each one. He made arrangements with a local deli to feed me and my friends any time we dropped in. And he paid me the same money per assignment as my former boss.
When my old boss found out, he was MAD and paid me a visit. My new briefcase came in handy that day. Also my chauffeur was very cooperative in disposing of the 200 pound bag I gave him to take to the dump. And my boss gave me "proof" that I was with him at the racetrack all that day, and has expanded my territory to include my old turf.
Lesson: Always treat your current and former employees like family. If you treat them like a load of crap, they might soon be treating you like a load of crap.
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Re: Easy Solution To THAT Problem
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Add another -10 to "big business"
One day, a mouse was stunned when the company it worked for let it go. When the mouse asked why it was being let go, the reply was "downsizing". But the mouse wasn't satisfied, so it asked a relative in HR and was told the mouse designed the best cheese recipe and has outlived its usefulness.
The mouse was upset, but figured it could get a job easily enough. The mouse interviewed and interviewed, but nothing came about. The mouse was curious, and has inquired why it wasn't being hired, especially given the skills it had.
"You worked for the competition", was the reply. "We can't afford taking you on with the risk your recipes will violate the noncompete you signed."
So now, the mouse is working at Walmart, having its expertise in recipe design wasted.
Despite treating its company as family, the mouse was still crapped on.
Or did you completely skip over the blog relating to the creator of the Bratz collection and losing to Mattel?
These kinds of "contracts" should be illegal.
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Motorola Non-compete
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I thought 6 sigma was the answer to Motorola's problems
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Re: I thought 6 sigma was the answer to Motorola's problems
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Re: I thought 6 sigma was the answer to Motorola's problems
SuxSigma: Driving the economics of fail since 1975.
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Get Over it Motorola!
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Preventing laid off workers from joining a competitor
Oh, how the world has changed since Reagan started the "think with your heart" crap!
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Preventing laid off workers from joining a competitor
Oh, how the world has changed since Reagan started the "think with your heart" crap!
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Would a slave be better off?
This is how we find out that our lives are completely worthless to these people. We are held in worse contempt than slaves and they would prefer that we not eat and (worse?) that we don't upgrade our cellphones.
For shame!
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